Blue skies, acres of greenery, animals in their natural state, this place is so underrated!
Our day 6 was basically well spent at the Werribee Open Range Zoo, which is 30 minutes away from Melbourne city. The name itself got me as I always wanted to see how animals are in their most natural state, not in cages and behind bars as what we get here in Malaysia. This is the natural-est state they can be in a zoo, unless I go to South Afrika (another bucket list).
From Melbourne CBD, we took the trains at Flinder's station to Werribee station then you need to get on bus 439 to get to the entrance of the zoo (as mentioned in previous posts, to and fro within the zone is AUD7.20 per day)
The theme of the zoo is slightly African, seeing that well, Afrika is the wildest natural-est state an animal can be in. With the clear blue skies as background, who is to say this isn't Afrika?
I got to see my very first gorilla in real life! I've been fascinated with gorrilas even since I saw Caesar in Planet of The Apes and I finally got a dose of real life gorrilas (well, two actually).
It is obvious who is the leader here. Poor thing at the back have to run for it's life when this fellow comes charging by.
And many more other animals that is not found in Malaysia like the hyenas, the spotted dog and more though the most impressive one will belong to the gorilla
The real highlight of this zoo is the safari where we will get to get super close with the animals.
The whole safari will take 40 minutes throughout the whole open range zoo and the you will get detailed explanations on board.
The safari bus looks like a long trailer bus. I was slightly disappointed as I though we'll be in a jeep like in the movies in South Afrika!
But the trip makes up for it though I never saw animals as happy as this bunch
Sure shows how animals should never be in cages and bars
And and and! I was touching distance with them all!
The most memorable one will be the giraffes as they can just stroll gracefully beside the safari bus. Awesome much?
Of course there were rhinos and zebras and camels and Mongolian horses and many more other animals but the giraffes were the best for me
We went for the tour twice until it was closing. It closes at 4.30pm so be early to get more of the zoo! The safari really were an amazing experience for me
Day 6: Puffing Billy with Grayline tour
This here is the Dandenong Ranges Park with long stretch Eucalypts trees all over which we passed by before reaching Belgrave, which is where the puffing Billy is!
Basically it was all the way scenic with nature at its best. I really am impressed on how they maintain all their parks as natural as possible
Next train at 10.30am!
The Pufing Billy was said to be theonly transport for the locals to get to the other side for work. So basically they have to board this old train and passed by steep hills and wooden bridges with their legs dangling on the outside because too many people that wants to get to their work at the other side.
But now it is open to tourists that wants a taste of how it was in the old days
Dangling legs on the outside! We do it for fun now but back then they were forced to because of the packed train you see
Passing by the forest on route to Menzies creek
Because we sat on the left side of Puffing Billy we couldn't get the view on the right side, which oversees villages and mountains and lakes *puffed cheeks
So remember to get your seats at the right!
Reached our destination where our tour bus is waiting, a glimpse on how the Puffing Billy looks like
Will be uploading a video on our Melbourne tour so stay tuned!
XO,
Charis
